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Basic Rocket Science
Plot End tag Troy and Abed are playing in cardboard boxes pretending to be in spaceships. Recurring themes Continuity: *'First appearance': **Richie Countee makes his debut a but is not named until the Season Three episode "Documentary Filmmaking: Redux". He is later re-named "Richie Countee" in "Curriculum Unavailable". **Dean Spreck makes his first appearance of the season, he returns in the Season Two finale. **Greendale's new logo debuts in this episode. It was submitted anonymously by the study group ostensibly as a symbol referring to the school as being "The Crossroads of Ideas" but in actuality it was just a representation of an anus. *'Returning students': Leonard returns and is one of the Dean's first choices to be a part of the inaugural space simulation launch. *'Googly eyes': **Dean Spreck seems to have a weird effect on Dean Pelton. **Britta accidentally ends up in Troy's lap and they both share a moment. **Pierce ends up pressed closely against Jeff who pushes him off disgusted. *'Middle Eastern Magic 8 Ball': **The Kentucky Fried Chicken Eleven Herbs and Space Experience SANDERS resemblance to Pierce's father, Cornelius Hawthorne, is alluded to by Pierce. Suffering from delusions due to his claustrophobia and a head injury, he attacks the TV screen with S.A.N.D.E.R.S. on it and screams "Get off my mommy, I'm her man!". **Britta mentions a class at Greendale called "Theoretical Phys Ed" which is mentioned again in the episode "Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design". Running gags: *'Whoops!': Troy accidentally confirms to Dean Pelton that they did submit the anus logo design. *'Catchphrase': Shirley says "That's nice!" after Britta lies about praying. *'Pansexual imp': **When Jeff threatens to step on him, the Dean lets slip that he might enjoy it. **Abed notices that Dean Pelton has circled public restrooms and truck stops on his city map and given them ratings. Pop culture references: *'Product placement': **Kentucky Fried Chicken is prominently advertised in this episode along with it's latest food item the "Doublicious." **Pierce repeatedly mistakes his iPod for a cell phone. *'Shout out': Britta tells Pierce that he is not talking on his phone but listening to a Wesley Snipes narrated audio book. Meta references: *'Homage': The episode also parodies a number of space travel films, including Apollo 13, The Right Stuff, Deep Impact, and The Last Starfighter. The opening sequence of this episode satirizes the film The Right Stuff, based on the novel of the same name by Tom Wolfe. Later in the episode, Abed's role opens a satire of the film Apollo 13, with Abed playing the role of Gary Sinise's character. Pierce's claustrophobia mimics the "space dementia" featured in Armaggedon. *'Use your allusion': **The acronym of City College's space simulator C.C.C.P. (The City College Cosmic Pioneer) is the same as the acronym of the Soviet Union C.C.C.P. (Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик). **The design of the brochure for the EHASE is similar to the Star Wars logo. **After Pelton shows off the new school logo to the study group, he tells them to keep "snicker"ing and to pack themselves with peanuts and "really be satisfied" which is a reference to the candy bar "Snickers". **The Greendale flag, which is introduced in this episode, also uses an asterisk (*) as a symbol for an anus, a symbol which was popularized by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s book Breakfast of Champions. **In the ending skit with Troy and Abed, a drawing of a flux capacitor can be seen on the back of Abed's cardboard box, referencing the device of the same name in the "Back to the Future" films. Quotes Trivia * The episode was originally titled "The Fundamentals of Flight" and is still referred to by that name in the Apple iTunes store. Category:Season 2 Episodes Category:Self-contained escapade episodes Category:Community Episodes